Andrew Sztein
Is there any sweeter in-game persona than a badass ninja with a katana to grind? This reviewer says no. Sure, the commandos from the Contra series or the over-used space marine may be cool alter-egos too, but for my money, nothing beats slashing my way through hordes of baddies, for whatever reason the game feels fit to throw my way. Read More.
Ever since I played my first title from Monolith Studios, I've been hooked on their quirky, unique and incredibly well designed games. From the spastic charms of games like the anime-inspired Shogo or the 60's spy motif of No One Lives Forever, to the hair-raising tension of games like Condemned and the original F. Read More.
I love getting new games. When you're truly excited about a new game, you can actually feel your bottom lip tremble as you gingerly peel back the shrink wrap. If you're like me, you may even give the new game a little whiff before you pull the disc out of the case and place it in your game console. Read More.
When I first acquired my Xbox 360, I had a sinking feeling.
"What if this whole next-gen thing was just a scam?" I asked myself, as I played game after game that would have been easily possible on earlier-generation systems with some trimmed back graphics and a lower resolution. Read More.
I'm sure you're all familiar with the guitar hero formula by now. Even if you don't own a copy yourself, Guitar Hero and its progeny, Rock Band, have so permeated the social consciousness that nearly everyone at one point or another has strummed that plastic guitar. Read More.
Any shooter fan worth their weight in M1 Garands has been through World War II at least a couple of times throughout their gaming career. The genre has been one of the most popular settings for a shooter since the glory days of Wolfenstein 3D on DOS. Granted, things have gotten grittier, more realistic, and more intense since the days we took on Mecha-Hitler with our trusty chainguns. Read More.
Karma is a bitch.
Some people can malicious dimwits and rise to the most powerful posts in the world, not unlike a soon to be former U.S. president. Sometimes bad things happen to good people. Take Isaac Clarke, protagonist of EA's new horrorfest Dead Space, as an example. Read More.
As an Ottawa Senators fan, I know all about growing pains in an inaugural season. After all, my local boys had the second worst season of all time in their first year, winning only 10 of their 84 games. 2K's first effort on the Wii doesn't tread in the murky waters traversed by that early Senators team, but it has a lot of work to do before their flagship hockey franchise becomes a contender on the Wii. Read More.
Dust off your medals of honor, duty is calling you to take up arms with your brothers once more. Despite the fact that most shooter fans have singlehandedly killed more Nazis in their gaming careers than were actually killed in all of World War II, the genre continues to go on strong. Read More.
I'll admit it. I am genetically doomed to lose my hair sooner rather than later. Since I've relegated myself to my fate, there are fewer feelings in this world that surpass the one I get when I go for a drive, feeling the wind rush through my receding hairline. Read More.
When it was announced that Free Radical was creating a next generation first person shooter, interest was understandably piqued. After all, they've developed the well-received Timesplitters series, and many of their top brass put console first person shooting on the map when working for Rare on GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark in the late 1990's. Read More.
Recently I was flipping channels on a recent excursion to Baltimore. I came across a show on Nickelodeon called Fairly Odd Parents and was stunned at the sheer amount of adult jokes and double entendres that the show was presenting. Kids likely wouldn't get the secret jokes, making it something that both adults and kids could enjoy together, to an extent. Read More.
I have a love/hate relationship with Tom Clancy. I certainly respect the realism and hard work that goes into crafting an intensely realistic approximation of counter-terrorism, urban warfare, or covert operations. However, many of his games tend to eschew fun in favour or challenge and realism. Read More.
Super Smash Bros. Brawl is one of the most anticipated Wii games to date, and on the surface, it's easy to see why. The Smash Bros. series has been a multiplayer staple since its inception on the N64 a decade ago, and always a favourite at parties. Unfortunately, the formula is beginning to wear a little bit thin. Read More.
One thing that I've always wondered about while playing the plethora of WWII shooters on the market is how veterans of the war would feel about their plight being packaged for profit and entertainment. Also, as someone of Jewish descent, should I really feel good about blasting away wave after wave of enemies who only sixty years ago wanted my race obliterated from the map? Read More.
